Math: EAGER: Researching the HyFlex+ Instructional Model of Blended Learning

随着美国高等教育入学人数的不断增加，高校面临着提供21世纪课程的压力，以适应不同学生群体的需求，包括那些有照顾孩子、兄弟姐妹或父母责任的学生；学生运动员;在某些天气条件或其他流动性挑战下，通勤可能会很危险的学生；还有生病的学生。旧金山州立大学（San Francisco State University）的布赖恩·比蒂（Brian Beatty）博士首先开发了一种很有前景的模型，名为HyFlex。HyFlex模式的主要特点是在一门课程中结合了在线和面对面的组件（“混合”），并允许学生选择上课的时间和方式（“灵活”）。这个项目将在密歇根大学的一门大型统计学入门课程中设计、开发和研究HyFlex模型的实现。HyFlex+统计学入门课程将为学生提供同等的面对面或同步在线课程，通过结合反向通道通信系统-基于网络或移动聊天室，如twitter和其他社交媒体。在HyFlex+模型中，反向通道将由研究生监控，以便在课堂上促进学生和教师教师之间的实时对话。学生、教师和机构都对高效和有效地利用资源感兴趣。尽管HyFlex模型已经存在了近十年，但关于该模型在高等教育中对学生学习的有效性的研究相对较少。因此，这个拟议的研究项目的核心将是一种混合方法（定量和定性数据收集）研究，旨在回答紧迫的问题，包括：在学生和机构的入门统计课程中使用HyFlex+模型的好处和挑战是什么？HyFlex+教学模式对讲师和研究生助教的时间成本是多少？在满足学生和机构的需求方面，HyFlex+模式的哪些方面促成了它的成功或失败？学生为什么会选择这样的出勤模式？这个选择是一致的，还是不同的？在两种出勤模式下，反向通道对学生是否同样有效？如何，为什么或为什么不？学生的哪些认知和非认知结果受到该模式的影响，以及如何受到影响？

As postsecondary enrollments in the United States continue to increase, there is pressure for colleges and universities to provide 21st Century delivery options for courses to accommodate access for a diverse student population, including students who have caregiver responsibilities for children, siblings, or parents; student athletes; students who face commutes that can be dangerous under certain weather conditions or other mobility challenges; and students who become ill. One promising model, first developed by Dr. Brian Beatty at San Francisco State University, is called HyFlex. The primary feature of the HyFlex model is to combine online and face-to-face components ("hybrid") in a single course and allow students to choose when and how they attend class ("flexible"). This project will design, develop, and research the implementation of a HyFlex model in a large introductory statistics course at the University of Michigan. The HyFlex+ introductory statistics course will provide equivalency for students attending class face-to-face or synchronously online by incorporating a backchannel communication system -- a web-based or mobile chat room, like twitter and other social media. In the HyFlex+ model, the backchannel will be monitored by graduate students in order to facilitate real-time conversation among students and the faculty instructor during a class session.Students, faculty, and institutions are interested in efficient and effective use of resources. Although the HyFlex model has existed for nearly a decade, relatively little research exists about the effectiveness of this model for student learning within higher education. Thus, the core of this proposed research project will be a mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative data collection) study designed to answer pressing questions, including: What are the benefits and challenges of the use of the HyFlex+ model in introductory statistics courses for students and for the institution? What are the costs of the HyFlex+ instructional model on the instructor's and graduate teaching assistants' time? What aspects of the HyFlex+ model contribute to its success or failure in meeting the needs of students and the institution? Why do students choose the attendance mode they do? Is this choice consistent, or does it vary? Is the backchannel equally effective for students in both attendance modes? How and why or why not? What cognitive and non-cognitive student outcomes are affected by the model and how?